2 employees arrested for duping Tata Sky of Rs 7cr

THE Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Thursday registered a case of cheating and forgery against two employees of Tata Sky DTH for allegedly cheating the company of Rs 7.68 crore over a four-year period by producing fake invoices and bills. The accused were named by company officials in their complaint to the EOW.

According to EOW officers, the two accused have been identified as Jaffar Bootwala and Nitesh Barbhaiya. While Bootwala is a marketing manager, Barbhaiya is an executive.

Additional Commissioner of Police (EOW) Rajvardhan confirmed that an FIR had been registered in the case. "We have received a formal complaint from the organisation. Our investigations are on," he said. EOW sources said the fraud came to light when a supplier approached the organisation and complained that a Tax Deducted at Source (TDS) entry had been made in his income tax returns.

"Tata Sky began probing the complaint and an internal audit was ordered. When the audit report came out, it was learnt that the organisation was swindled of Rs 7.68 crore and that fake invoices and bills for supply of products had been passed on as genuine. Officials of Tata Sky then found out that the duo was responsible for the fraud. They approached us and we registered a case," said an officer, requesting anonymity.

The officer said the police have learnt that some of the documents had forged signatures on them. "The accused seem to have forged the signature of the vice-president, marketing. They also produced purchase offers and bills for a fake company under the name of Master Graphics to charge the DTH provider. They submitted fraudulent documents to Tata Sky and managed to take out Rs 7.68 crore. Tata Sky officials have found blatant violations through the audit and have reported them to us," said the officer.

... contd.

ALSO READ

Campus placements: IIT Bombay targets 100 companies in phase-II

‘Babasaheb Ambedkar a prisoner of caste politics, his relevance will grow’: Bharip Bahujan Mahasangh president Prakash Ambedkar

From anger to anguish

We deal with birth and death daily, but some deaths leave a void, say doctors